Bottle capping machine



July 1, 1958 J.IHALAH'AN ETAL BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 25, 1952 July 1, 1958 J. HALAHAN EI'AL 2,840,969 BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Filed Feb. 25, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I I I I I INVENTORS JOHN HflLHH/q/V THEODORE E HRONSOIV BY FlOVD H. LYON ATTORNEY United States Patent BOTTLE CAPPIN G MACHINE Theodore F. Aronson, and Floyd A. Lyon, Upper Brook- Jolm Halahan, Upper Brookville,

Valley Stream, ville, N. Y.

This invention relates to container closure devices and more particularly to apparatus for inserting stoppers in bottles.

The present invention is directed to apparatus for automatically inserting bungs or stoppers in bottles or vials. The stoppers are usually of the type having a certain amount of elasticityand being generally cylindrical in shape with an extending flange.

The present application relates generally to our copending application S. N. 241,847 filed August 14, 1951, now Patent No'. 2,737,330. That application discloses and claims bottle stoppering apparatus of the type using a vertically acting ram to force the stoppers into the bottles, whereas the present application utilizes a pivotally mounted arm for the same purpose.

Accordingly a principal object of the invention is to provide new and improved means for automatically inserting stoppers into bottles.

Another object of the present invention is to provide high speed automatic means for inserting stoppers of the resilient type into containers such as bottles.

Another object is to provide new and improved bottle stoppering apparatus in which the members are adjustable to accommodate different size bottles.

Another object is to provide new and improved container closure apparatus.

The present invention achieves these objects by providing new and improved apparatus as will be described by the following specification and drawings, of which,

Figure 1 is a front elevation cross-section of an embodiment of the invention,

Figure 2 is an elevation view of the central portion of Fig. 1,

Figure 3 is a cross-section along the plane 3-3 of Fig. 2, with number 31 in down position.

Figures 4 and 4A are details of the embodiment of the previous figures.

Figure 1 shows a front elevation view of an embodiment of the invention. It comprises generally a bottle feeding belt 1, which feeds the bottles to be stoppered to the work platform 2 where they are properly positioned, as will be more fully described. The stoppers 4 are fed down the chute 3, which is a gravity feed plus escapement device, into the proper position for pickup by the arm 6 which is pivoted about the axis AA, as is shown more clearly in Fig. 3.

The forcible insertion of the stoppers is performed by rotary action of the arm 6 which is actuated by connecting rod 21. After the stopper has been inserted in the bottle 5, the bottle is rotated on the work table 2 by the starwheels and 10', to the bottle removing belt 12, as is shown in Fig. 2. The arm 6, the bottle moving apparatus, and the stopper moving apparatus are all synchronized as will be explained.

Referring to Fig. 1, the heart of the timing system is the cam 7 which is mounted on the shaft 8, which in turn is motor driven by chain 13. The cam 7 actuates the up and down rotary motion of the arm 6 by means of the 2 cam follower 16, mounted on lever 17. The lever 17 is spring loaded by spring 19 and is pivoted about the point 20 so that as the cam 7 rotates, the lever 17 drives the rod 21 up and down. As the cam rotates the power stroke of the arm 6 is provided by spring 19 through rod 21. Arm 6 is shown in the p position in Fig. l. The power stroke occurs when the straight portion of the cam 7 reaches the cam follower 16.

The starwheels 10 and 10',which rotate the bottles, are driven by shaft 11, and chain 23 through bevel gears 22. Chains 13 and 23 are driven in synchronism by the same source (not shown). Therefore the'movements of the bottles by the starwheels and the movements of the arm 6 are perfectly synchronized.

Figure 2 is a plan view showing the action of the starwheels 10 and 10'. The incoming bottles arrive on belt 1 to the work position occupied by bottle 5. The incoming bottles are properly positioned by guides 25 and 26 and spring loaded guide 27, which are pivoted about points 25, 26', and 27'. The arm 6 is pivoted about the axis A--A and is shown in the horizontal position just inserting a stopper into the bottle 5. Starwheels 10 and 10' then move the sealed bottles counterclockwise to the removing belt 12. The belt 12 is preferably adjusted to move fast enough to remove the bottles without fouling the starwheels. The input and output belts are preferably arranged to have suitable guides and side rails which are adjustable to accommodate different size bottles.

Figure 3 is a cross-section of Fig. 2 taken along the axis 3 -3 of Figs. 1 and 2, and shows the action ofthe arm 6 which is pivoted about the axis A--A. The arm 6 and its associated arm 6' have a fixed angular relation forming a bell crank which is driven by the up and down motion of the rod 21. The stoppers slide down the chute 3 and are fed to the arm 6 in its substantially vertical position by the escapement mechanism 30 which is described in connection with Fig. 4. The spring fingers 31 and 31, hold the stopper 4 in proper relation to the arm 6.

The arm 6 is then driven by rod 21 to its horizontal position shown by the dotted lines. The arm 6 is rotated downwardly with considerable force, thereby inserting a stopper 4 into the bottle 5. The sealed bottle is then rotated away by the starwheels 10, and 10' to clear the arm 6 and spring fingers 31, 31 so that the arm 6 may be returned to its vertical position. A jog in the cam 7 is provided to release the pressure of the arm 6 on the stopper in the bottle while the stopper is slid off spring fingers 31. An alternate embodiment employs a camming action to spread the strips 31 apart after the stopper has been inserted. The fingers close up again after the stopper and bottle are removed. The jog provides the dwell time allowing the stoppered bottle to move before the fingers return to their original position.

Figure 4 shows details of the escapement mechanism 30 of Figure 3. Its function is to feed one stopper at a time to the arm 6. The member 30 is adapted to oscillate in proper synchronism with the arm 6, as shown in Fig. 4A. The member 30 is fixed to member 39 which is rotatably connected to member 46 by means of pin 42. The member 46 is spring loaded and is adapted to move downward against the spring pressure by the rotation of the member 43 about the axis AA. The member 43 is directly connected to the arm 6 by shaft 44 and the projecting pin 41 of member 43 engages the hooklike portion of the member 46.

As the arm 6 rises to its vertical position, the member 43 rotates counter clockwise about axis AA and the pin 41 moves the member 46 downwardly against the spring 45 pressure. This movement tips the rocker arm escapement 30 down, and allows one stopper to fall into the arm 6. As the arm 6 departs on its downward power stroke, the spring 45 returns member 46 and rocker arm 30 upward to position another stopper in readiness for falling into arm 6 on next-cycle. It also holds the rest of the stoppers from moving down.

master cam 7. One of the features of the invention is that high speed, reliable operation is obtained in a fully automatic manner; Many variations may be made on the basic invention without departing from the scope thereof. For instance, the invention is not limitedto any particular design of starwheels, and particular arrangement of gear- I ing or power drive or any particular arrangement of bottle feeding-or bottle removing means, since many modifications'will occur to those desiring to practice the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Bottle stoppering apparatuscomprising a lightweight arm pivotally mounted on a horizontal axis, means to feed bottles to a first predetermined position relative to said arm, means to feed stoppers to a second position relative to said arm, pickup means connected to said arm and adapted to hold one of said stoppers, and means to insert said stoppers comprising means to rotate said arm with a snapping motion about said horizontal axis.

2. Bottle stoppering apparatus comprising a lightweight arm pivotally mounted on a horizontal axis, means to feed bottles to a first horizontal position relative to said arm, means to feed stoppers to a position relative to the vertical position of said arm, pickup means connected to said arm and adapted to pickup one of said stoppers, and means to ram one of said stoppers into one of said bottles with a rotational motion comprising means to rotate said arm. I

3. Bottle sealing apparatus comprising a pivotally mounted light-weight arm adapted to rotate from a first vertical position to a second horizontal position and having a spring finger pickup means attached to its free end, stopper feeding means adapted to insert one stopper at a time into said arm pickup, bottle positioning means adapted to position a bottle in a position relative to the horizontal position of said arm, and means to actuate said arm to insert said picked up stopper into said positioned bottle with a rotational motion. I

4. Bottle 7 sealing apparatus comprising a pivotally mounted arm adapted to rotate from a first vertical position to a second horizontal position and having a spring finger pickup means attached to its free end, stopper feeding means adapted to position a bottle in a position relative to the horizontal position of said arm, means to actuate said arm to insert said picked up stopper into said positioned bottle with a rapid, rotational motion, and means connected and adapted to synchronize said arm 'and said bottle positioning means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 898,458 Gofi Sept. 15, 1908 1,919,060 Harder July 18, 1933 1,939,126 Manning et al Dec. 12, 1933 1,949,960 Frangen et al Mar. 6, 1934 2,080,393 Moore May 11, 1937 2,172,966 Williams Sept. 12, 1939 2,180,836 Risser Nov. 21, 1939 2,324,794 Minard July 20, 1943 2,360,423 Johnson et al. Oct. 17, 1944 2,679,345 Haynes May 25, 1954 

